


Transitions

by 41d3n



Series: Transitions [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode AU: s02e11 Fear Her, Episode: s02e11 Fear Her, Fluff, Gender Dysphoria, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, the doctor is very supportive, trans masc!Rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25772506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/41d3n/pseuds/41d3n
Summary: Rose gains a new understanding of her gender identity, and the Doctor is on hand to support.Set after The Satan Pit and follows the stories of Love and Monsters and Fear Her.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Transitions [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1889383
Comments: 6
Kudos: 56
Collections: Just.... So cute...





	1. Cracking the Egg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things I'd like to say:  
> \- First of all, this is my very first fanfiction, so feedback is very much appreciated!  
> \- I really wanted to explore the idea of trans masc!Rose, and how this would change the Doctor and Rose's dynamic. Also I wanted to see the Doctor being super supportive, as he would be  
> \- There will be multiple chapters, I may extend this AU out into further series 3 & 4 rewrites, but we'll see.  
> \- Finally a small disclaimer: I am a trans man myself, so I tried draw upon my own experiences to make Rose's feel authentic. Obviously, not every trans person's experience is the same.  
> Think that's all, hope you enjoy :)
> 
> EDIT 11/8/20: I fixed some grammar issues, and changed a small detail.
> 
> UPDATE 17/8/20: I've uploaded this to FFN under the username 41d3n-99
> 
> General CW for swearing throughout the story

Rose entered the console room and pushed herself up onto the jump seat with a light sigh. As per usual, the Doctor was lying on his back, head under the console, keeping his hands busy with repairs. As soon as he was aware of her presence, the Doctor began his typical non-stop babbling.

“Did I ever tell you about the time I met Isaac Newton? Proper genius, and I don’t often say that. Mind you, did need to give him a bit of a poke in the right direction when it came to gravity – didn’t go quite as far as climbing up into the apple tree he was sat under, and dropping said apples onto his head – but I did give him a hand with a couple of particularly tough calculations. Ooh! Have I ever told you about his rivalry with Leibniz…”

Rose continued to listen to the Doctor, but wasn’t taking in anything he was saying, even forgoing hums of affirmation to indicate that she was paying attention at all. However, the Doctor eventually noticed this, and rolled out from underneath the console to look at her. Rose’s face was slightly screwed up in thought, staring blankly at the time rotor.

“Penny for ‘em?” asked the Doctor, who had positioned himself between the jump seat and the console, looking at Rose intently.

“Do you ever… I dunno, feel like your body just ain’t right for some reason, like is that a normal thing…” Rose trailed off.

“Well yeah, obviously with regeneration it takes a bit of getting used to a new body, like I said before, new teeth are weird, and don’t get me started on limbs-“

“No, no, not Time Lords, I mean for, you know, humans? Who don’t just go around changing their faces every, I dunno, however often you do it…” Rose looked down, suddenly finding the stitching on the jump seat very fascinating. “And I don’t mean wishing you had straight hair instead of curly, just this kinda feeling of insecurity deep down, which I don’t think anyone else has. Not that I know, anyway…”

Sensing her distress, the Doctor moved to sit next to Rose, throwing his arm around the back of the jump seat.

“Rose… you know you can talk to me about anything, right…?” said the Doctor softly.

Rose seemed to tense further.

“Hey… look at me.”

Rose glanced up and took a sharp intake of air. The Doctor’s face was very close to hers, and at that distance, she could clearly make out every short hair that dotted his cheeks, jaw and neck. Feeling a sudden surge of emotions, notably sadness and – perhaps more confusingly – jealousy, she tore her gaze away from the Doctor, turning her head towards the door from which she had entered the console room through barely ten minutes ago.

“Yeah… sorry…” she murmured, standing abruptly then fleeing the console room into the depths of the TARDIS, leaving a confused and somewhat concerned Doctor alone on the jump seat.

***

Later that evening, Rose found herself in the library. She doubted the Doctor knew the answer to her question, seeing as he wasn’t human and therefore probably didn’t understand exactly how she was feeling. Then again, Rose didn’t even know what question she was asking.

Taking that into consideration, Rose sat down at one of several computer stations which were scattered around the library. There was no point in reading books if she didn’t know more about what she was looking for; an internet search would be much quicker.

Having typed several queries into the search engine, Rose couldn’t find anything that related to what she thought she was looking for, until she clicked onto the second page of results for ‘woman jealous of facial hair’, when a word stuck out at her. ‘Transgender’. Hesitantly, Rose clicked on the link, and began to read the article.

Suddenly, everything clicked into place. Everything she had been feeling for a couple of years now, but had kept buried, made sense. She was a transgender man. At least that explained her jealously over the Doctor’s five o’clock shadow.

“Shit…” she exhaled, feeling a weight lifted.

“You alright?” called a familiar voice.

Shit. Rose quickly closed the web browser and spun around in her chair, turning to face the Doctor.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Rose said, perhaps a little too quickly, trying to control her slight panic. She was scared about what would happen now, and didn’t want the Doctor to know anything, not yet at least.

The Doctor gave her a slight smile.

“Do you want me to… read to you, or something? It’s just that you didn’t seem okay earlier, and I thought maybe you’d like some company?” the Doctor asked bashfully, tugging on his ear.

Rose returned his smile.

“No, ta. Was just gonna go to bed.”

“If you say so. Goodnight, Rose.”

“G’night, Doctor.”

***

Over the next few weeks, the Doctor noticed something different about Rose. Several things, in fact. Most notably, her choice of clothing. She had swapped her fitted, bright, colourful hoodies and jeans for baggier ones in more subdued, darker tones. Something had shifted in her mood as well, from smiling and enthusiastic, to withdrawn and distracted. Naturally, the Doctor was worried. Rose was good at making him worried.

Sighing defeatedly, the Doctor asked the TARDIS about Rose’s whereabouts. An image of the media room flashed in his mind. Thanking the TARDIS, he made his way down the maze of corridors.

Opening the door to the media room, the Doctor found Rose curled up on one corner of the sofa, hugging her knees to her chest. She was wearing an oversized black hoodie, a popular new addition to her wardrobe.

“Hello Rose.”

Rose jumped at the sudden noise, and twisted around to look at him, eyes wide, looking like a deer caught in headlights. She looked down at her hands, picking at her cuticles.

“Hello,” she mumbled.

The Doctor sat down next to Rose on the sofa, close enough to offer comfort if need be, but far enough away that she would still be comfortable regardless.

“Rose, I’ve-”

He noticed her flinch at the sound of her own name.

“You’ve been distant the past couple of weeks, and clearly something’s bothering you. Of course, you don’t have to tell me what’s up, but I’ll help you with anything I can. I won’t judge you.”

Rose took a deep breath.

“I’m… trans.” She whispered the last word.

“Trans what?”

“Transgender.” Again, another whisper.

Oh.

The Doctor immediately wrapped his arms around Rose, pulling her into a tight hug. Rose returned his embrace, burying her face into the crook of his neck. The Doctor felt Rose shudder, and a wetness on his neck, so he held her tighter and rubbed her back soothingly.

Once Rose’s shaking had subsided, the Doctor broke the silence that had fallen in the media room.

“I’m so proud of you. I’m glad that you felt comfortable enough to tell me,” the Doctor murmured in her ear.

Rose pulled herself away from him slightly, in order to look at him.

“You mean, you’re not angry with me?” Rose whispered timidly.

“Of course not, why would I be angry with someone for embracing who they are. In fact, it amazes me! And Rose, I know in your time trans rights have a very long way to go, but I know injustice when I see it.”

Again, the Doctor spotted Rose flinch when he said her name. He paused.

“Would… you like me to use a different name for you?” the Doctor asked evenly. Rose looked down at the floor.

“Can’t say I’ve thought of anything yet,” Rose mused.

“That’s okay,” the Doctor reassured her, rubbing Rose’s arm. “Would you like me to use different pronouns for you, like he, or they, or anything you want really. Or we can stick with she, if you would prefer that?”

“I want… to use he, but it ain’t right. Not while I still look, ya know…” Rose vaguely gestured at herself.

“How about something more neutral, like they?” suggested the Doctor, gently squeezing Rose’s arm. Rose looked back up at him, offering a tongue-touched grin.

“Yeah?” asked the Doctor softly.

“Yeah,” Rose affirmed, cuddling back into him.

They stayed there for the rest of the night, holding each other, as Rose fell asleep.

***

“How are you feeling this morning?” asked the Doctor as Rose entered the galley.

“A bit meh, actually,” Rose confessed.

The Doctor placed Rose’s breakfast of scrambled egg on toast in front of them and sat down at the table opposite Rose.

“In what sense, do you mean you’re feeling dysphoric?”

Rose looked stunned. They hadn’t been expecting that.

“I suppose so, yeah. Just realising what that weird insecurity was just kinda amplified it.”

The Doctor nodded briefly in understanding. That explained the baggy clothing. He made his decision.

“Today, I’m gonna go on a quick shopping trip, 27th century Earth. Don’t worry, you don’t have to come with me if you don’t feel like it,” he reassured Rose, who was looking a bit lost.

Rose continued with their breakfast, enjoying the Doctor’s aimless chatter. When they had finished eating, the Doctor pulled a couple of books from his bigger-on-the-inside pockets. Rose glanced at the covers, both were books of baby names, one from the mid-80s, and the other from 2007.

“Thought you might like some inspiration. Of course, you don’t have to choose a new name now, or ever if you don’t want to, but-“

Rose interrupted him before he could get carried away. “No, I really appreciate it. Thought I’d have a think about it today anyway.”

The Doctor grinned at them.

“Brilliant, I’ll leave you to it. See you in an hour or so, two tops. Bye!”

“Bye, Doctor,” replied Rose as he exited the galley.

***

Precisely one hour, forty-two minutes and thirty-six seconds later, the Doctor re-entered the TARDIS, making a beeline for Rose’s bedroom, where he suspected they would be.

Coming to the end of a corridor, the Doctor knocked on Rose’s door.

“Come in,” came the slightly muffled reply. The Doctor tentatively opened the door.

“You’ve redecorated. I like it.”

Indeed, Rose had redecorated their room, or rather, the TARDIS had for them. The previous hot pinks and vibrant purples had been replaced by deep reds, with the occasional cream accent.

“Yeah, the TARDIS somehow sensed I wanted something a bit more, masculine, I suppose.” Rose was sat on their bed with the baby name books open at their feet.

“Find anything that you like?” asked the Doctor, who had moved to perch on the edge of Rose’s bed.

“What do you think of Ryan?”

“Well, it’s your name not mine, but pick something that feels true to you, at least, that’s what I did,” the Doctor suggested.

“I like Ryan,” said Rose, smiling.

“You want me to call you Ryan, then?” said the Doctor, returning their smile with one of pride.

“Yeah,” replied Ryan, their smile stretched further into a grin.

“You got a middle name?”

“Peter,” answered Ryan.

“Ryan Peter Tyler,” said the Doctor slowly, as if he was testing how the words tasted on his tongue. “Flows beautifully.”

“Yeah?” asked Ryan, their hand shifting to rest on the Doctor’s, who flipped his over to intertwine his fingers with Ryan’s.

“Yeah,” mused the Doctor, giving Ryan’s hand a brief squeeze. He pulled them into a hug. Ryan knew then, even with the uncertainty of their own future, that the Doctor would always be there for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, hopefully I'll another chapter out in the next few days, in which Ryan comes out to Jackie.


	2. Love and Monsters and Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan receives the Doctor's present, and they pay a visit to Jackie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I worked out a way to integrate this with the story of series 2, so that's a thing that's happening now. Also I changed Ryan's middle name from Nico to Peter - the previous chapter has been edited to reflect this. Also, the first section of this chapter was meant to be in the previous chapter, but I forgot about it :P. So if the end of the previous chapter feels a bit wonky, that's why.
> 
> Hope you enjoy <3
> 
> Content warning for mild transphobia.

“So you were saying something about shopping?” enquired Ryan with a cheeky grin, looking up at the Doctor.

“Ah yep, right, shopping,” the Doctor pulled himself out of the hug, patting his pockets. “Got a present for you.”

“Really?” Ryan asked in a tone of mild surprise. Typically, the Doctor wasn’t one for giving presents.

“Yeah, hold on.”

The Doctor stuck his hand into one of the pockets on the inside of his jacket. He pulled out a spanner, a paper bag of centuries-old jelly babies and a toothbrush before carefully extracting a carrier bag, and passed it over to Ryan, whose face was painted with an expression of confusion and anticipation.

“Go on,” gently encouraged the Doctor, nudging Ryan on the shoulder. Ryan pulled out a few garments in different coloured fabrics, and looked at the Doctor expectantly, searching for some kind of explanation.

“Oh right, they’re um, chest binders,” the Doctor said, scratching the back of his head, looking as embarrassed as a Time Lord probably could, which wasn’t very much by human standards. He quickly continued.

“I didn’t know what colour or style you wanted, so I got you all of them. Very nifty little things, made from special 27th century fabric - always fits comfortably and you can wear them safely for 24 hours straight, rather than just some arbitrary number of hours that someone from your time came up with, and was subsequently passed on. Although, you don’t have to wear them if you don’t want to, just thought you might want something other than baggy hoodies, though you can keep wearing those as well if they make you comfortable-“

“Doctor!” interjected Ryan.

“No, sorry, I shouldn’t have, it’s none of my business…”

The Doctor started to make his way to the door.

“Wait!” Ryan sighed. The Doctor may be a self-proclaimed genius (and quite rightly so), but sometimes he couldn’t quite read the room.

“Thank you.”

The Doctor stopped in the doorway and turned around to see Ryan smiling shyly. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

“No problem Ryan, like I said, I’d help you in any way I could,” the Doctor started in a chipper voice but quickly trailed off. “Might not be much though…”

“I really think it’ll help,” Ryan grinned, looking the happiest the Doctor had seen them in weeks.

“Brilliant, I’ll leave you to, um, try them on, if you want. I’ll be in the console room, doing repairs.”

The Doctor backed out of the room, pulling the door shut as he left.

Hardly five minutes had passed when Ryan found the Doctor in the console room, having swapped a baggy hoodie for a slightly more fitted t-shirt. The Doctor peered around the time rotor to see Ryan looking down at themself; he could make out a smile on their face.

“How is it? Feel okay?”

Ryan looked up at him, beaming.

“Fantastic,” they echoed the Doctor’s previous Northern self.

“I’m glad,” said the Doctor with a twinkle in his eye. “Onwards?”

Ryan gave a definite nod, and with that, the Doctor flipped down the de-materialisation lever, taking the pair to their next adventure.

***

_Two weeks later_

An intrusive ringing woke Ryan from their slumber. They fumbled around on their bedside table to find the source of the ringing, which turned out to be their phone. Not bothering to read the caller ID, Ryan pressed the answer button and brought the mobile to their ear.

“’Lo?”

“Hello Rose,” began a shrill voice.

Ryan winced; it was too early for this, even though the Doctor insisted that since there was no such thing as morning on board the TARDIS, there was no such thing as too early.

“Hi Mum, you alright? We only spoke the other night.”

“Oh right, yeah, met this young handsome bloke, helped me with– “

“Mum, can we have the short version please?” Ryan didn’t want to hear the details.

“So last night we were gonna have pizza, but he insisted on paying, so I was gonna slip a tenner in his pocket, but I found a photo of you in there. Think he might be after you and the Doctor, seeing as he kept asking about your travels…” Jackie trailed off.

“I’ll tell the Doctor and we’ll sort it out,” Ryan reassured her. “What’s the date and time for you?”

Jackie gave them the details.

“Thanks, I’ll see ya after. Bye Mum.”

“Bye Rose.”

Ryan hang up, got dressed and trudged to the galley for breakfast.

***

Ryan told the Doctor about Jackie’s phone call over their breakfast of banana pancakes.

“Bet he’s with LINDA, that lot are always trying to find me” the Doctor looked exasperated.

Ryan didn’t press him further, too anxious to care. When the Doctor noticed that Ryan hadn’t looked up from the mug of tea they were nursing, the Doctor moved his hand across to theirs and rubbed his thumb over Ryan’s knuckles, providing comfort with the small gesture.

“You’re nervous about seeing your mum.” It was a statement, not a question.

Ryan glanced up briefly.

“Yeah.”

The Doctor continued to stroke Ryan’s knuckles, patiently waiting for them to resume talking when they were ready.

“I think I should say something sooner rather than later, but I’m scared about what she’ll think,” Ryan confessed quietly.

The Doctor gave Ryan’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“You know she loves you.”

Ryan nodded slightly.

“And we do have a time machine, we don’t have to go now if you don’t want to.”

Ryan looked up at him, a determined look in their eyes.

“Let’s do it.”

The Doctor gave Ryan’s hand a last squeeze and jumped up.

“I’ll meet you in the console room when you’re ready.”

***

After dealing with the Abzorbaloff and sorting out Elton, the TARDIS materialised in the Powell Estate courtyard. The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, offering his hand to Ryan as they followed. Ryan took it and gave the Doctor a grateful smile. They walked up to Jackie’s flat in companionable silence, until they reached the front door.

“Do you want me to say anything, or…” the Doctor trailed off.

“I think I’ll be okay,” replied Ryan with a slight wobble in their voice. They gave the Doctor’s hand a squeeze, which was more for Ryan’s comfort than to reassure the Doctor. As if she could sense them, the door was opened in front of them by Jackie.

“Are you two gonna stand outside all day?” Jackie nearly shouted. Ryan and the Doctor quickly let go of the other’s hand, but Jackie noticed and rolled her eyes at them. She almost yanked Ryan into a hug, while the Doctor took the opportunity to edge around them, successfully avoiding being pounced on by Jackie.

Jackie stepped away from Ryan to look at them in the face, but Ryan glanced down to the floor, trying to avoid their mother’s inquisitive gaze. It didn’t take maternal instinct to know that something wasn’t right.

“Rose, what’s wrong love? What’s he gone and done?” Jackie gently asked, in contrast to the glare she was giving the Doctor, who had already picked up the television remote and was fiddling with it.

“He hasn’t done anything, I’m fine,” Ryan insisted, still unable to look Jackie in the face.

“Rose, you know you’re a crap liar, please talk to me,” Jackie near pleaded.

“Fine, I’m transgender. I think I should have been born male, y’know, like Mickey’s friend Sally, but the other way ‘round, I guess,” Ryan snapped.

The Doctor looked up from the television remote, his eyes shining with pride for his companion. For once in her life, Jackie appeared to have been stunned into silence.

“But, but, you can’t be!” insisted Jackie, close to tears. “You’re my daughter!”

Daughter. The straw that broke the camel’s back. Ryan suddenly found themselves suffocating, struggling to breathe, unable to hear properly, the flat getting smaller and smaller. Ryan needed to get out, out, out. Fast. So they ran. Maybe the Doctor shouted their name, maybe not.

Jackie watched helplessly as Ryan bolted out the flat, neglecting to shut the door. The Doctor made a move to follow them, but Jackie was quicker, grabbing the Doctor by his coat and pushing him into a wall, trying (and quite possibly succeeding) to intimidate a man who had nearly a foot on her.

“Did you put her up to this?” Jackie sneered.

“I haven’t put anyone up to anything, I swear, honest, R-“ the Doctor was silenced with a deafening slap.

“Get out.”

The Doctor didn’t need to be told twice, mumbling an apology as he shut the front door behind him.

***

The Doctor found Ryan on the roof of Bucknall House, the same place where they saw the Slitheen’s spaceship fly overhead before its fake crash-landing. Ryan looked up when they heard the Doctor approach and saw him nursing his cheek.

“Oh my god, she slapped you? I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

The Doctor noticed Ryan’s red eyes, an obvious tell that they had been crying.

“I should be the one asking you that,” the Doctor said softly. Ryan shrugged, gazing at the city in the distance.

“I…” Ryan took a deep breath. “I can’t say I was expecting to go down well, but,” their voice cracked. “But it really hurts, actually hearing it.”

With that, Ryan started sobbing, and without thinking, threw themself at the Doctor. He wrapped his arms around Ryan, rubbing their back and gently shushing into Ryan’s ear to try to soothe them.

Ryan backed out of the Doctor’s embrace five minutes later, feeling awkward and like they had overstayed their welcome. The Doctor took this as a signal that they could safely continue their conversation.

“I’m sorry.”

“’S not your fault,” Ryan insisted.

“She’ll come round,” the Doctor reassured them.

“How long ‘til people can come out as trans and it’s just, fine…?” asked Ryan, not really wanting to know the answer.

“Ooh, let’s see, 2007, Britain… about ten years until there’s widespread public awareness that trans people actually exist, maybe another ten until acceptance and support.”

The Doctor saw the sad look on Ryan’s face and winced.

“I’m sorry.”

Ryan paused.

“I think… I’m gonna go back down. You probably shouldn’t come with me if she’s angry with you,” Ryan told the Doctor.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Ryan smiled to reassure him.

“I’ll go back to the TARDIS and come back in half an hour?” the Doctor suggested.

Ryan nodded in agreement. Together, they walked back down the stairs, parting after four flights of stairs.

***

Ryan knocked tentatively on the door. “Mum… it’s me.”

Jackie opened the door, looking a bit guilty.

“Where’s that Doctor of yours?” she asked, not trying to hide the anger she felt towards him.

“We decided together that it was better for us to have this talk just between the two of us-“

“Bloody right it is!” Jackie interjected.

Ryan sighed.

“Look, Mum… this isn’t about the Doctor. He’s my best mate, and he’s just been supportive of me, like any best mate would.”

Jackie sighed in defeat.

“Fine, let’s just sit down.”

Ryan was perched on the edge of the sofa, fiddling nervously, while Jackie was reclined in an armchair, with a mug of tea in her hand. Neither had said a word in five minutes.

“So what’s this about you wanting to be a man?” Jackie asked suddenly.

Ryan stopped fiddling with their fingers. Not quite right, Ryan thought, but it’d have to do.

“It’s… kinda hard to explain,” Ryan began.

Jackie leant forward slightly in her chair.

“Being the way I was before – am now – just doesn’t feel right, being called she, a woman, stuff like that.”

Jackie nodded slightly, that explained their earlier behaviour.

“I don’t like… parts of my body either,” Ryan said in one breath.

Jackie’s eyes widened.

“Does that mean you’re gonna have a sex change?” Jackie asked, not disguising the horror in her tone.

Ryan cringed and rolled their eyes.

“Mum, you know there’s no such thing as a sex change, right?”

Jackie appeared to ignore that comment.

“I haven’t really thought about medical intervention yet, but if I do, the Doctor would be able to manage everything for hormones and stuff,” Ryan tried to reassure her.

“Rose, you know I don’t believe that man’s ever been to medical school,” Jackie bluntly stated.

Yet again, Ryan sighed; it was beyond the point.

No one said anything for a while.

“Look, Rose, I’m not gonna pretend to understand – cos I don’t – but you’re my daughter and I’m always gonna love you no matter what,” Jackie said firmly, breaking the silence.

Ryan looked down at the carpet.

“Son,” whispered Ryan.

“Huh?”

“I’m your son. And it’s not Rose, it’s Ryan,” Ryan said, a little louder. “Ryan Peter Tyler.”

Jackie nodded.

“That’s a lovely name.”

“Thanks, I chose it myself,” Ryan quipped, more to themself than to Jackie.

“Come here,” said Jackie, trying (and failing) not to cry.

Ryan stood and went over to Jackie for a hug.

“Would you like me to cut your hair?” Jackie whispered. “It’s the least I can do.”

Ryan nodded against her shoulder.

“Please.”

***

Having determined that exactly thirty minutes had passed since he had last seen Ryan, the Doctor made his way back up to the flat.

He knocked hesitantly on the door, fully expecting to face the wrath of one Jackie Tyler, but was instead greeted by a young man with his blond hair swept across his forehead and the side of his face. It was Ryan.

“You look handsome,” blurted out the Doctor before he could stop himself.

“For a human?” Ryan teased, grinning.

“Um…” the Doctor tugged his ear.

Deciding to save the Doctor from what looked like a potentially awkward conversation, Ryan invited the Doctor back inside, reassuring him that Jackie wouldn’t slap him.

“Here ya go, thirty quid”

Jackie presented Ryan with a couple of notes.

“Get yourself a couple of new outfits.”

Ryan looked shocked.

“But Mum, you shouldn’t-“

“No love, I want to,” she insisted. “And take him,” Jackie gestured at the Doctor, “with you. I don’t want him breaking my toaster. Again.”

“I didn’t break it; I was making it more efficient!” The Doctor tried to argue but was stopped by Ryan, who took his hand and tugged him out the flat.

***

“We taking the TARDIS or…?” Ryan asked, looking up at the Doctor as they crossed the courtyard.

“Nah, let’s take the bus.”

Ryan paused in surprise.

“Bit domestic for you, innit?” Ryan teased, gently elbowing the Doctor in the ribs.

The Doctor shrugged.

“You know me, Ryan, nine hundred years. I’ve taken buses.”

***

Two bus journeys, three shops and several purchases later, the Doctor and Ryan wandered back to the TARDIS after saying goodbye to Jackie.

Ryan leant against the TARDIS as the Doctor fumbled for his key.

“Doctor?”

“Mmmm,” the Doctor hummed, unlocking the TARDIS door.

“Can you, er, call me he?” Ryan asked nervously. “Feels right, now.”

The Doctor turned his head to the left and smiled.

“Of course, Ryan, my main man,” the Doctor grimaced. “Remind me to never say that again.”

Laughing, they stepped into the TARDIS, onto their next adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, it's Fear Her. I'm looking forward to writing this, as Fear Her was a very fluffy/touchy-feely episode, and I'd like to investigate how potentially being perceived as a gay couple could affect the Doctor and Ryan. This will probably be two chapters, maybe more, we'll see.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and please feel free to leave feedback!


	3. Fear Her: Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Novelising TV is an experience, to say the least, I found it tricky in places, though I did have a lot of fun working out where things would be changed slightly. And yeah, I got lazy with chapter titles :P. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: Most of the dialogue was written by the writers of Doctor Who.

“Ah!” exclaimed the Doctor as Ryan followed him out of the TARDIS, their initial parking attempt unsuccessful. Ryan looked around the area for clues as to when they had landed, spotting a poster for a Shayne Ward Greatest Hits tour.

“So near future, yeah?” Ryan deduced. The Doctor sauntered up behind him.

“I had a passing fancy. Only it didn’t pass; it stopped.”

The Doctor started walking away, hands in his pockets. Ryan gave the posters one last glance, then followed him.

The pair wandered down several streets until they found a cul-de-sac decorated with a banner for the London 2012 Olympics. That answered Ryan’s when.

“Thirtieth Olympiad,” said the Doctor in a tone of voice that he liked to use when he knew he was being impressive.

“No way!” Ryan exclaimed, taking the Doctor’s arm. “Why didn’t I think of this? That’s great!”

“Only seems like yesterday a few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about, wresting with each other in the sand as the crowds stood around baying… no wait a minute, that was Club Med,” the Doctor chuckled, giving Ryan a friendly nudge. “Just in time for the opening doo-dah – ceremony – tonight. Thought you’d like that – last one they had in London was dynamite. Wembley, 1948. I loved it so much I went back and watched it all over again.”

Ryan stopped listening to the Doctor; a worried-looking man was pinning a poster up on a streetlamp, which already had a couple of similar posters attached to it. As the man hurried off, Ryan left the Doctor’s side to read the poster.

“Doctor…” Ryan tried to attract his attention, but he continued rambling about torchbearers and tea parties.

“Doctor!”

He still didn’t notice, babbling about cakes with crunchy ball-bearings.

“You should really look at this!” Ryan gestured at the posters. Finally, that had caught his attention. The Doctor walked over to join Ryan, still rambling about ball-bearings. His mood sobered when he saw the array of missing person posters.

“What’s taking them do you think? Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this… and why’s it so cold? Something’s reducing the temperature?”

“Says they all went missing this week,” Ryan pointed out. “Why would a person do something like this?”

“What makes you think it’s a person?” the Doctor asked.

They heard a door click and turned to see a woman timidly place a bag of rubbish at the edge of her driveway, before hurrying back inside.

“Whatever it is, it’s got the whole street scared to death,” Ryan mused. “Doctor, what…” he went to ask, but the Doctor had already run off down the street. Ryan started to follow him, but his attention was caught by a Mini that had stopped and wouldn’t start.

“There you go, fifth today,” said an exasperated council worker, who had abandoned his van to come help. “That’s not natural, is it?”

“Don’t know what happened. I had it serviced less than a month ago,” explained the man in the car.

“Nah, don’t even try and explain it, mate,” the council worker replied. “All the cars are doing it and you know what, it’s bonkers. Bonkers.” He moved around to the back of the car to push it. “Come on, then, pal, I’ll help you shift it. Quicker you’re on your way, the happier you’ll be.” He started pushing, grunting with effort. Ryan decided he wasn’t just going to stand by idle.

“You want a hand?”

“Yeah, please mate.”

Ryan moved next to the council worker at the back of the car, pushing, then the car suddenly started back up, causing the council worker to fall forwards.

“Cheers lads,” called the driver.

“Does this happen a lot?” Ryan asked the council worker, who was brushing himself down, trying to regain some dignity after falling.

“Been doing it all week,” grumbled the council worker.

“Since those children started going missing?”

“Yeah. Suppose so,” he shrugged.

They walked back down the street towards the van.

“Every car cuts out,” the council worker explained. “Council are going nuts. I mean, they’ve given this street the works, renamed it. I’ve been tarmacking every pothole.” He gestured down to the ground. “Look at that, beauty innit,” he said proudly. “Yep, and all this is because that Olympic torch comes right down by the end of this close. Just down there,” he pointed. “Everything’s gotta be perfect, ain’t it?”

They approached a scared-looking elderly lady.

“It takes ‘em when they’re playing,” she told them.

“What takes ‘em?” asked Ryan.

“Danny, Jane, Dale… snatched in the blink of an eye,” she continued.

Suddenly Ryan heard the Doctor - who sounded like he had managed to get himself into trouble. Fuck’s sake, thought Ryan. He tells me not to wander off and he goes and does it and pisses off the locals.

“No, I’m not a liar, I’m a police officer. That’s what I am,” the Doctor tried to explain, waving his hands. “I’ve got a badge and a, er, a police car. You don’t have to get – I can, I can prove it,” he said, reaching into his pocket for what was presumably his psychic paper.

“We’ve had plenty of coppers poking around here and you don’t look or sound like any of ‘em,” accused a middle-aged man, pointing his finger at the Doctor.

“See? Look! I’ve got a colleague!” the Doctor pointed at Ryan. “Lewis!”

“That kid? He looks less like a copper than you do! How old is he, sixteen?”

Ryan wanted to tell the man he was twenty-one, but it definitely was not the right time.

“Training. New recruit. It was either that, or… mechanic,” the Doctor fibbed; Ryan gave him a grateful smile. “So, voila!” the Doctor shoved his psychic paper in the man’s face.

“What are you going to do?” asked a woman nervously.

“The police have knocked on every door… no clues, no leads, nothing!” the elderly lady exclaimed.

“Kids run off sometimes, alright? That’s what they do,” insisted the man.

“I saw it with me own eyes. Dale Hicks in your garden playing with your Tommy and then…” she gestured a small bang with her hands. “Right in front of me. Like he was never there! There’s no reason to look any further than this street. It’s right here amongst us!”

“Why don’t we…” the Doctor began, but was interrupted by a middle-aged woman who had decided to join the conversation.

“Why don’t we start with him?” she pointed at the council worker. “There’s been all sorts like him in this street, day and night,” she sneered.

“Fixing things up for the Olympics!” insisted the council worker. Ryan felt bad for him, he was just doing his job and people were having a jab at him for no real reason.

“Yeah, and taking an awful long time about it!” added the man.

“I’m of the opinion that all we got to do…” the Doctor tried to reason.

“Yeah well, what you just said, that’s slander!” argued the council worker.

“I don’t care what it is!” the woman argued back.

“I think we need to just…” the Doctor was once again interrupted.

“I want an apology off her!” demanded the council worker.

“Stop picking on him,” said the elderly lady.

“Yeah, stop picking on me!”

“And stop pretending to be blind! It’s evil!” she interjected.

“I don’t believe in evil,” said the middle-aged woman, who was reminding Ryan of some of the customers at Henrik’s who would treat the shop assistants like second-class citizens.

“Oh no, you just believe in tarmackers with sack loads of kidnapped kiddies in their van!”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s not what she’s saying,” the man said defensively.

“Would you stop ganging up on me?” the council worker cried.

“Feeling guilty, are we?” the middle-aged woman sneered. Ryan had had just about enough of this, and it seemed, so had the Doctor.

“Fingers on lips!” the Doctor snapped, glaring at everyone. One by one, each person in the group hesitantly raised an index finger to their mouth. The Doctor nodded at Ryan, indicating that he needed to join in as well. Ryan obeyed, smirking slightly.

The Doctor spoke calmly. “In the last six days, three of your children have been stolen. Snatched out of thin air, right?”

“Er, can I…?” the elderly lady asked. The Doctor gestured towards her. “Look around you,” she pointed around her. “This was a safe street ‘til it came-”

Ryan noticed the quiet woman looking shifty, so glanced up at the house she had come out of, and spotted a girl staring at them out of a window, her palm pressed against the glass. The woman noticed him looking, and quietly went back inside.

“-Can you please help us?” pleaded the elderly lady.

The Doctor agreed without hesitation, and their investigation began.

***

They started in the front garden of the middle-aged man, whose son was the most recent child to disappear. The Doctor was smelling the air, frowning slightly in concentration, trying to catch a sniff of something that might give them some clue as to what had happened.

“You want a hanky?” Ryan quipped.

The Doctor ignored his comment. “Can you smell it?” Ryan inhaled deeply. “What’s it remind you of?”

Ryan pondered for a moment. “Sort of… metal?”

This was the right answer; the Doctor nodded and grinned, making a happy noise in his throat. They left the garden, the Doctor giving the man (who had been glaring at them the whole time) a slight wave in thanks.

They walked to the next location where a child had disappeared: a small back alley.

“Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other,” the Doctor recalled. “Whoa, there it goes again!” the Doctor showed his hand to Ryan – the hairs on the back of it standing on end. Ryan sniffed the air again.

“And there’s that smell. It’s like a um… a burnt fuse plug or something.”

“There’s a residual energy in the spots where the kids vanished,” the Doctor explained. “Whatever it was, it used an awful lot of power to do this.”

They walked out of the alley, back onto Dame Kelly Holmes Close.

***

“Well, aren’t you a beautiful boy!” Ryan exclaimed, spotting a ginger tabby cat and bending down to stroke it.

“Thanks, I’m experimenting with back-combing,” the Doctor said in a light tone, which quickly dulled. “Oh.”

“I used to have one like you,” cooed Ryan. He turned to look at the Doctor, who had a disgruntled look on his face. “What?” asked Ryan, except he could tell that the Doctor was somehow jealous of a cat, and it didn’t help matters that the cat was ginger.

“No, I’m not really a cat person,” grumbled the Doctor, half-heartedly. “Once you’ve been threatened by one in a nun’s wimple, it kind of takes the joy out of it.”

The cat walked towards a cardboard box, seemingly bored of Ryan’s affections.

Ryan followed after it. “Come here, puss. What d’you wanna go in there for?” The cat disappeared into the cardboard box and Ryan heard a faint meow. He looked inside the box – it was completely empty. Ryan called the Doctor, who was staring across the street, bored of the cat. He jogged over to where Ryan was crouched.

“Whoa! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!” the Doctor exclaimed. He picked up the box and turned it around in his hands. “Ion residue, blimey! That takes some doing. Just to snatch a living organism out of space-time. This baby is just like ‘I’m havin’ some of that!’ I’m impressed.” He tossed the box back onto the grass.

“So the cat’s been transported,” Ryan deduced.

“It can harness huge reserves of ionic power. We need to find the source of that power.” The Doctor looked around. “Find the source and you will find… whatever has taken to stealing children and fluffy animals. See what you can see.” He playfully hit Ryan on the shoulder. “Keep ‘em peeled, Lewis.” Ryan gave him a firm nod.

Not really sure where to start, Ryan headed aimlessly down another street. He suddenly heard a loud thud and a clattering from behind a garage door. Ryan carefully approached the door.

“Is that you puss cat? You trapped?” Ryan asked, not entirely sure why he had, it wasn’t as if the cat would be able to reply. Ryan put an ear to the door, jumping away almost immediately as he heard another loud bang come from within the garage. Ryan told himself he wasn’t going to open it, but his curiosity got the better of him, and so he twisted the handle and lifted the door, peeking underneath it once the door was high enough.

Suddenly, a black, twisting, buzzing mass flew out, causing Ryan to fall on his back in surprise. He covered his face, trying to protect himself from the angry buzzing _thing_.

“Stay still!” he heard the Doctor shout, followed by the distinctive buzzing of his sonic screwdriver. The angry buzzing thing stopped doing its angry buzzing and shrank down to a fraction of its size, falling straight into Ryan’s hands. Ryan heard him running over, and he jumped in front of Ryan.

“Okey-dokey?” the Doctor asked, before holding out his hands and pulling Ryan to his feet.

“Yeah, cheers,” Ryan responded, breathless.

“No probs.” He pulled Ryan into a hug, as Ryan threw his arms around the Doctor’s neck. They separated quickly, but the Doctor’s hand briefly lingered at Ryan’s side, before poking the not-so angry buzzing thing in Ryan’s palm.

“I’ll give you a fiver if you can tell me what the hell it is, cos I haven’t got the foggiest.”

“Well, I can tell you you’ve just killed it,” answered Ryan, still catching his breath.

“It was never living. It’s animated by energy. The same energy that’s snatching people.” The Doctor tossed it in his hand like a cricket ball. “That is so dinky! The go-anywhere creature. Fits in your pocket. Makes friends. Impresses your boss. Breaks the ice at parties.” Ryan laughed, and he walked back to the TARDIS with the Doctor.

***

“Oh, hi ho, here we go. Let’s have a look,” said the Doctor. Ryan stared at the rotating symbols on the monitor, which fused into one with a beep. “Get out of here,” the Doctor scoffed.

“What’s it say?” Ryan asked, circular Gallifreyan seemed to be one of a few languages that the TARDIS didn’t translate. The Doctor didn’t answer, instead pulling a pencil out of his jacket and using the rubber on the end of it to make part of the ball disappear. “It is! It’s graphite! Basically the same material as an HB pencil…” Ryan looked at the Doctor in shock.

“I was attacked by a pencil scribble!?”

“A scribble creature,” the Doctor corrected, “brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we’re dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. But why make a scribble creature?”

“Maybe it was a mistake… I mean, you scribble over something when you want to get rid of it, like a um, like a drawing. Like a… a child’s drawing…” Ryan trailed off as the Doctor turned to look at him. “You said it was in the street.”

“Probably.”

“The girl!”

“Of course!” shouted the Doctor. “What girl?”

“Something about her gave me the creeps, even her own mum looked scared of her.” The Doctor leaned forward, his interest piqued.

“Are you deducting?” he asked flirtatiously.

Ryan turned sideways, looking at him over his shoulder. “I think I am,” he flirted back.

They continued their Inspector Morse-inspired roleplay.

“Copper’s hunch?”

“Permission to follow it up, Sarge?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems this will be a long one, definitely at least 2 more chapters. Thank you for reading, please leave any feedback if you have any, and I'll be updating again in the next few days, hopefully.


	4. Fear Her: Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have much to say here, other than I hope you enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: Most of the dialogue was written by the writers of Doctor Who.

Following up on Ryan’s ‘copper’s hunch’, the pair walked to the girl’s house. The Doctor pressed the doorbell once, and they waited. The Doctor rattled the door knocker in impatience, the mother seemed to be taking her sweet time answering. Finally, she answered, and they put on friendly smiles.

“Hello, I’m the Doctor, and this is Ryan. Can we see your daughter?”

“No! You can’t,” the woman said perhaps a little too quickly.

“Okay. Bye.” The Doctor and Ryan turned and walked away, hands shoved in pockets. Ryan started counting down in his head. Three… two… one…

“Why?”

They turned with such synchronicity that the move almost looked choreographed. “Why do you want to see Chloe?” asked the woman.

“Well, there’s some interesting stuff going on in this street and I just thought… well,” the Doctor gestured at Ryan, “we thought that she might like to give us a hand.”

“Sorry to bother you,” said Ryan, giving an apologetic wave.

“Yeah, sorry. We’ll let you get on with things. On your own,” said the Doctor unsubtly. “Bye again.”

They started to walk away again. Three… two -

“Wait!”

They span around.

“Can you help her?” asked the woman.

The Doctor smiled. “Yes I can.”

The woman, who had introduced herself as Trish, let the Doctor and Ryan into her front room. Ryan sat down on the sofa, while the Doctor opted to stand, instead tossing his long caramel coloured coat beside Ryan.

“She stays in her room, most of the time,” explained Trish. “I try talking to her, but it’s like trying to speak to a brick wall. She gives me nothing, just asks to be left alone.”

“What about Chloe’s dad?” Ryan gently asked.

“Chloe’s dad died a year ago.”

“I’m sorry.” Ryan understood the pain of losing a father, and how difficult it could be for a single mother to bring up a child alone.

Trish lightly scoffed. “You wouldn’t be if you’d known him.”

“Well, let’s go and say hi,” the Doctor said with enthusiasm.

“I should check on her first, she might be asleep.”

“Why are you afraid of her, Trish?” said the Doctor, any trace of cheerful enthusiasm gone.

“I want you to know, before you see her, that she’s really a great kid,” insisted Trish.

“I’m sure she is,” replied the Doctor in a genuine tone.

“She’s never in trouble at school. You should see her report from last year. As and Bs.”

Ryan smiled at Trish in encouragement, then he decided he felt like doing some of his own investigating. “Can I use your loo?” he asked.

Trish gave a surprised nod, and Ryan walked out the front room and crept up the stairs; he could hear Trish telling the Doctor about Chloe’s involvement in the choir.

At the top of the landing, Ryan heard some noise coming from behind a shut door. Guessing it to be Chloe, he quickly hid in a cupboard. Peering through the gaps in the louvre door, Ryan watched as Chloe left her room. Once he heard the stairs creaking from the footsteps, he quietly moved into Chloe’s room, taking care ensuring that the door wouldn’t creak. Ryan was greeted with walls covered in drawings, most – if not all – of children and pets. He went over to the desk to see what Chloe had been working on.

Suddenly, there was a rattle coming from behind him; Ryan reflexively turned around, knocking over a pot of pencils. He quickly gathered the pencils from the floor when one of the pictures caught his eye. It was of a boy in a union flag t-shirt – Ryan could have sworn he didn’t look as startlingly angry before. Ryan heard another rattle behind him. This time, he was sure it was coming from the wardrobe, there was no other place in the room it could have come from. Ryan slowly walked over to the wardrobe, feeling like he knew where this was going to go. He slowly pulled open both doors and was met by a strong gale emanating from inside the wardrobe. Ryan pulled back some clothes to find a tall, life-size drawing of a man, teeth bared, and his eyebrows pinched in anger, his furious eyes emitting sinister red light. “I’m coming!” the picture growled.

“Doctor!” Ryan yelled. He felt himself being drawn into the cupboard, unable to control himself.

“I’m coming to hurt you!”

Thankfully, at that moment the Doctor ran into the room. He lightly pushed Ryan aside and shut the doors. He drew in a breath and gave Ryan a slight glare that he struggled to interpret.

“Look at it!” insisted Ryan.

“No, ta,” the Doctor dismissed him.

“What the hell was that?” demanded Trish.

“A drawing, a face of a man,” replied Ryan.

“What face?” Trish went to open the wardrobe, but Ryan quickly moved himself in front of the handles.

“Best not.”

“What have you been drawing?” Trish asked Chloe.

“I drew him yesterday,” Chloe replied, matter-of-factly.

“Who?”

“Dad.”

“Your dad? But he’s long gone. Chloe, with all the lovely things in the world, why him?” Trish asked, the desperation clear in her voice. Ryan was feeling quite worried now.

“I dream about him. Staring at me.”

“I thought we were putting him behind us. What’s the matter with you?”

“We need to stay together.”

“Yes, we do,” Trish agreed, nodding.

“No, not you. Us.” The Doctor lowered the drawing he’d been inspecting and turned around, frowning. “We need to stay together and then it will be alright.” Trish comforted Chloe, but she flinched away.

“Trish… the drawings. Have you seen what Chloe’s drawings can do?” asked Ryan.

Trish glared at him. “Who gave you permission to come into her room?” she questioned. “Get out of my house.” The Doctor chose that moment to intervene.

“Tell us about the drawings, Chloe.”

“I don’t want to hear any more of this,” Trish said.

“But that drawing of her dad… I heard a voice, he spoke!” Ryan said insistently.

“He’s dead! And these, they’re kids’ pictures! Now get out!”

Ryan ignored Trish’s demands. “Chloe has a power, and I don’t know how, but she’s used it to take Danny Edwards, Dale Hicks; she’s using it to snatch the kids!”

“Get out!”

“Have you seen those drawings move?”

“I haven’t seen anything!” Trish nervously half-chuckled.

“Yes you have.” Ryan didn’t need to be looking at the Doctor to hear the frown in his voice. Trish twisted around to look at him. “Out of the corner of your eye.”

“No,” Trish denied.

“And you dismissed it because what choice do you have? When you see something you can’t possibly explain, you dismiss it, right?” The Doctor walked over to look Trish in the eye. “And if anyone mentions it, you get angry, so it’s never spoken of ever again.”

Trish interrupted him. “She’s a child.”

“And you’re terrified of her. But there’s no one to turn to, ‘cos who’s going to believe the things you see out of the corner of your eye? No one. Except me.”

“Who are you?” asked Trish, scared.

“I’m help.”

They left Chloe in her room, making their way to the kitchen. The Doctor spotted a jar of marmalade on the counter and swiped it as soon as it was in range. He unscrewed it and went to eat some but was stopped when Ryan caught him with a finger in his mouth. He cleared his throat and shook his head at the Doctor. What the fuck is he doing, thought Ryan. Nine hundred years old and still lacking basic manners.

The Doctor gave Ryan and Trish sheepish looks in turn, before putting the jar down as if nothing had happened. Ryan needed to refocus him.

“Those pictures, they’re alive. She’s drawing people, and they end up in her pictures.”

“Ionic energy. Chloe’s harnessing it to steal those kids and place them in some kind of holding pen made up of ionic power.”

“And what about the dad from hell in her wardrobe?”

Trish interjected, “How many more times do I have to tell you, he’s dead.”

“Well, he’s got a very loud voice for a dead bloke,” Ryan snarked.

“If living things can become drawings, then maybe drawings can become living things.” The Doctor shuddered at the thought. “Chloe’s real dad is dead. But not the one who visits her in her nightmares. That dad seems very real. That’s the dad she’s drawn, and he’s a heartbeat away from crashing into this world.” He gazed at the ceiling.

“She always got the worst of it when he was alive,” confessed Trish.

Ryan looked at him squarely. “Doctor, how can a twelve-year-old be doing any of this?”

The Doctor paused for a moment, then audibly inhaled as he pushed himself away from the counter. “Let’s find out.”

Ryan and Trish followed him back up the stairs into Chloe’s room, where she was sat cross-legged on the bed, as if she had been expecting them. The Doctor crossed the room to stand in front of her. Chloe gave him the Vulcan salute, which Ryan assumed the Doctor had shown her earlier when she was downstairs. Finally, something a bit more Spock, Ryan contemplated, remembering their time in 1941.

“Nice one.” The Doctor smiled. He bent down in front of her and gently placed his fingertips at her temples. Almost instantly, Chloe’s eyes rolled back, and she fell back, the Doctor guiding her down. “There we go…”

“I can’t let him…” Trish stepped forward to stop the Doctor, but Ryan placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Shush, it’s okay. Trust him,” Ryan reassured her.

The Doctor took a couple of steps back. “Now we can talk.”

Chloe’s voice took on a whispering tone, with an almost ethereal quality to it. “I want Chloe! Wake her up! I want Chloe!”

“Who are you?” the Doctor asked evenly.

“I want Chloe Webber!” Chloe, or more likely whatever creature was within her, slammed her fist against the bed in anger.

“What have you done to my little girl?” asked Trish, almost crying.

“Doctor, what is it?”

The Doctor paced around the bed. “I’m speaking to you, the entity that is using this human child. I request parlez in compliance with the Shadow Proclamation.”

“I don’t care about shadows or parlezes!”

“So what do you care about?” asked the Doctor in a low voice.

“I want my friends!”

The Doctor crouched down at the side of the bed. “You’re lonely, I know. Identify yourself,” he requested.

“I am one of many, I travel with my brothers and sisters. We take an endless journey. A thousand of your lifetimes.” The Doctor looked down in empathy. “But now I am alone. I hate it. It’s not fair and I hate it!”

“Name yourself!” demanded the Doctor.

“Isolus.”

A look of understanding dawned on the Doctor’s face. “You’re Isolus, of course!”

Chloe picked up a pencil and started quickly scrawling on a nearby piece of paper. “Our journey began in the Deep Realms when we were a family.”

“What’s that?” Trish asked, looking at the flower-like drawing that Chloe was producing at an unnatural speed.

“The Isolus mother, drifting in deep space,” answered the Doctor, rising to full height. “See, she jettisons millions of fledgling spores – her children. The Isolus are empathic beings of intense emotion, when they’re cast off from their mother, their empathic link, their need for each other is what sustains them. They need to be together; they cannot be alone.”

“Our journey is long.”

“The Isolus children travel, each inside a pod. They ride the heat and energy of solar tides. And it takes thousands and thousands of years for them to grow up.”

“Thousands of years just floating through space? Poor things. Don’t they go mad with boredom?” Ryan asked.

“We play.”

Ryan edged forwards. “You… play?”

The Doctor hummed in confirmation as he sat down on the bed. “While they travel, they play games. They use their ionic power to literally create make-believe worlds in which to play.”

“In-flight entertainment?”

“Helps keep them happy. While they’re happy, they can feed off each other’s love. Without it, they’re lost.” The Doctor looked down at Chloe, directly addressing the Isolus. “Why did you come to Earth?”

“We were too close.”

Chloe cast aside the paper she was pencilling on to start drawing on the sheet beneath it and started aggressively sketching a circle.

“That’s a solar flare from your sun,” explained the Doctor. “Would have made a tidal wave of solar energy that scattered the Isolus pods.”

“Only I fell to Earth. My brothers and sisters are left up there and I cannot reach them. So alone!”

“Your pod crashed? Where is it?”

“My pod was drawn to heat, and I was drawn to Chloe Webber. She was like me… alone. She needed me and I her.”

“You empathised with her,” said the Doctor as he stroked Chloe’s temple soothingly. “You wanted to be with her because she was alone like you.”

“I want my family! It’s not fair!” snapped the Isolus. Ryan and Trish looked on in sympathy.

“I understand, you want to make a family. But you can’t stay in this child, it’s wrong,” the Doctor scolded. “You can’t steal any more friends for yourself.”

“I am alone!”

Suddenly, a crash came from behind Ryan and Trish and they saw the menacing red light through the cracks in the wardrobe. “I’m coming to hurt you!” roared the voice from earlier. “I’m coming!”

“Trish, how do you calm her?” the Doctor asked with urgency. Chloe was shaking violently.

“What?”

“When she has nightmares, what do you do?”

“I…”

“What do you do?”

“I sing to her.”

“Then start singing.”

The Doctor indicated to Trish to take his place, and he moved to stand next to Ryan. Trish sang Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree; eventually Chloe’s shaking subsided and the commotion from within the wardrobe stopped.

Trish cradled her daughter. “It came to her because she was lonely. Oh Chloe I’m sorry.” The Doctor and Ryan watched on in silence.

***

“Chloe usually got the brunt of his temper, when he’d had a drink,” Trish explained as she gathered up pencils. “The day he crashed the car, I thought we were free, I thought it was over.”

Ryan gave her a handful of pencils he had collected. Having grown up on an estate, he had seen the effect that having abusive parents had on children. “Did you talk to her about it?”

“I didn’t want to.”

Ryan sat down. “But maybe that’s why Chloe feels so alone. ‘Cos she has all these terrible dreams about her dad but she can’t talk to you about them.”

“Her and the Isolus… two lonely kids that needed each other…” the Doctor mused.

“And it won’t stop, will it, Doctor? It’ll just keep pulling kids in.”

“It’s desperate to be loved,” sighed the Doctor, “it’s used to a pretty big family.”

“How big?”

The Doctor’s eyes flicked down to Ryan. “Say around… four billion,” he exhaled. Ryan’s jaw dropped a little. A family that large was almost impossible to comprehend.

The Doctor and Ryan quickly left Trish’s house, and explained that they would be back later.

“We need that pod,” said the Doctor as they hurried down the driveway, still throwing on his trench coat in their rush.

“It crashed, won’t it be destroyed?” Ryan asked.

“Well it’s been sucking in all the heat it can. I think that should keep it in a fit state to launch,” the Doctor replied, his frustration and annoyance evident. “It must be close. It should have a weak energy signature the TARDIS can trace. Once we find it, then we can stop the Isolus.”

They rapidly approached the yard where the Doctor had parked the TARDIS. “We can scan for the same trace I picked up from the scribble creature,” the Doctor explained. “Just need to widen the field a bit.”

He dug his key out his trouser pocket and hastily unlocked the TARDIS, with Ryan following him inside.

The Doctor ripped up panels from the TARDIS’s floor, picking out various components and pieces of machinery, giving a few bits to Ryan for him to hold.

“You knew the Isolus was lonely before it told you. How?” asked Ryan as the Doctor paced around the console. The Doctor nudged him off the jump seat.

“I know what it’s like to travel a long way on your own,” the Doctor deflected. “Give me the steino-magnetic… um…” Ryan put out both hands to him, not sure what he was asking for. The Doctor nodded clumsily. “The… thing in your left hand.”

“Sounds like you’re on its side,” said Ryan slipping the component into a gadget the Doctor was constructing.

“I sympathise, that’s all.”

“The Isolus has caused a lot of pain for these people.”

“It’s a child. That’s why it went to Chloe. Two lonely, mixed up kids,” the Doctor replied, blowing on his gadget. Ryan hummed in disagreement.

“Feels to me like a temper tantrum ‘cos it can’t get its own way.

“It’s scared. Come on, you were a kid once. Binary dot.”

Ryan held out his index finger. “Yes, and I know what kids can be like,” he argued. “Right little… terrors.”

The Doctor held out his hand to Ryan. “Gum.” Ryan let the gum he was chewing drop into the Doctor’s palm.

“Oi, I’ve got cousins. Kids can’t have it all their own way, that’s part of being a family.”

“And what about trying to understand them?” the Doctor countered.

Ryan turned away from him. “Easy for you to say, you don’t have kids.”

“I was a dad once,” replied the Doctor offhandedly.

Ryan snapped round, not sure if he was being serious, surely the Doctor would have mentioned his children if he had any. “What did you say?” The Doctor pointedly ignored the question.

“I think we’re there,” he said, giving his device a shake. He stood up from the jump seat and made his way around the console. “Fear, loneliness – they’re the big ones, Ryan. Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. We’re not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy. There’s a lot of things you need to get across this universe…” Ryan noticed a blip on the monitor and pointed at it. “…warp drive, wormhole refractors. Do you know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold.” He paused, noticing Ryan’s outstretched hand. The Doctor glanced up at Ryan with the widest grin he had seen all day. The Doctor happily placed his hand on top of Ryan’s.

“No, look I’m pointing,” Ryan laughed. The Doctor shifted in front of the monitor.

“It’s the pod!” he exclaimed. “It is in the street!” He looked at Ryan. “Everything’s coming up, Doctor.” Ryan followed him as he dashed out of the TARDIS.

Ryan took the lead as the Doctor shut the door. “Okay – it’s about two inches across. Dull grey, like a gull’s egg. Very light.”

“So these pods, they travel from sun to sun using heat, yeah? So it’s not all about love and stuff. Doesn’t the pod just need heat?” Ryan heard glass smash behind him. He turned; the Doctor’s device was lying in pieces on the concrete and the Doctor himself was nowhere to be seen. “Doctor?” Ryan spotted the gap between the two shipping containers where the TARDIS should have been. “Doctor!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still not sure whether this is gonna be finished in one really long chapter, or two shorter chapters. However, I am going to extend this out into series 3 and 4 rewrites; I love writing this AU and there's lines from series 3 and 4 that I can't wait to utilise. Hope you all are well, and thank you for reading! Any comments are very welcome, as always.


	5. Fear Her: Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! A shorter chapter this time, as I wanted to have this one chapter to wrap up Fear Her, before having the last chapter as an epilogue of sorts. I hope you enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: most of the dialogue is by the writers of Doctor Who.

Ryan didn’t need to smell the metallic scent to know that Chloe had drawn the Doctor and the TARDIS out of existence; he ran all the way to Trish’s house and pounded on the door. Once Trish had opened the door, he didn’t bother to say anything, and ran up the stairs.

“It’s okay, I’ve taken all the pencils off her,” Trish insisted, but Ryan ignored her. He barged into Chloe’s room and snatched a drawing from in front of her. It was of the Doctor and the TARDIS.

“Leave me alone! I want to be with Chloe Webber!” demanded Chloe, or rather, the Isolus possessing her did. “I love Chloe Webber!”

“Bring him back now,” Ryan warned.

“No!”

Ryan sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Don’t you realise what you’ve done? He was the only one who could help you. Now bring him back!” he shouted.

“Leave me alone, I love Chloe Webber!”

Ryan faltered. There was no point in arguing with a child – and the Isolus certainly wasn’t going to change its mind. He knew what he had to do. “I know,” he said calmly. Ryan stood up, rubbing Chloe’s shoulder. “I know,” he repeated. He looked down at the drawing in his hands. “Doctor, if you can hear me, I’m gonna get you out of there. I’ll find the pod,” he said softly. He tossed the paper onto the bed as he stormed out of the room, warning Trish to not leave Chloe alone.

***

“Heat,” Ryan recalled. “They travel on heat.” He spotted the council worker from earlier, Kel.

“Look at this finish, smooth as a baby’s bottom. Not a bump or a lump,” Kel said proudly, stroking his tarmacking job. Ryan squatted down next to him.

“Kel, was there anything in this street the last few days giving off a lot of heat?”

“I mean, you could eat your dinner off this,” Kel chuckled. “Beautiful. So you tell me why the other one’s got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftmanship as this one?”

At this current moment in time, Ryan could not have given less of a shit. “Well, when you’ve worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking, but before you do that, think back six days.”

“Six days… when I was laying this the first time round,” nodded Kel.

“What?”

“Well that’s when I filled in this pothole for the first time.”

“Six days ago.”

“Yeah.”

“Hot, fresh tar…” Ryan considered. The pod was drawn to heat, so it had to be there. He got up and ran to Kel’s van, perhaps he had something that Ryan could use to break up the tarmac.

“Blended to a secret council recipe,” said Kel smugly. “And I don’t keep it in the van!” he shouted when he saw where Ryan was headed. Ryan pulled the rear doors open and jumped in. “Hey! That’s a council van! Out!” Ryan ignored him and grabbed a pickaxe and gave Kel a devilish grin.

“Whoa, wait a minute! You’ve just removed a council axe from a council van. Put it back! No, don’t - wait! That’s my van. Give me the axe.” Ryan prepared to strike the tarmac. “Wait! No!” he swung down. “No! Stop! You just took a council axe from a council van and now you’re digging up a council road! I’m reporting you to the council!”

Ryan disregarded Kel’s unintentionally humorous outburst as he continued to strike the road. Once the ground was sufficiently broken, Kel’s work destroyed, Ryan got on his knees and dug around in the debris and found a small pod that matched the Doctor’s description. “It went for the hottest thing in the street… your tar!” Ryan looked up at Kel laughing.

“What is it?” Kel asked angrily.

“It’s a spaceship!” Ryan exclaimed. “Not a council spaceship, I’m afraid,” he joked.

***

“I found it!” Ryan yelled as he returned to Trish’s house. “Don’t know what to do with it but maybe the Isolus will just hop on board.” Trish met him, cupping a glass of squash. “Hang on, I told you not to leave her.”

“ _My god_ ,” they heard Huw Edwards say on the television. They looked at the opening ceremony live coverage – the stadium was empty. “ _Erm, what’s going on here?”_

Kel sauntered into the house. “I don’t care if you’ve got Snow White and the Seven Dwarves buried under there, you don’t go-“

“Shut up and look!” Ryan snapped, pointing at the television. Every single person had disappeared from the Olympic stadium, even the commentators in the box.

“The stadium won’t be enough,” Ryan mumbled. “The Isolus has four billion brothers and sisters.”

Ryan ran up the stairs with Trish following him; he tried to open Chloe’s door, but it was barricaded. “Chloe? Chloe? It’s Ryan – open the door!” he shouted. “We found your ship; we can send you home!”

“Chloe!” Trish pleaded.

“Open up!” Ryan yelled. Chloe wasn’t responding, but Ryan realised he was still holding the pickaxe he had used earlier. “Right, stand back,” he warned Trish. Ryan struck the door five times until he was able to get his hand through and remove the chair wedged under the door handle.

He ran in – Chloe was scrawling a huge picture of the Earth on her wall, and the dad from hell was growling from within the wardrobe. “I’ve gotta stop her,” Ryan realised, but the drawing in the wardrobe didn’t seem to approve of the idea.

“If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out,” threatened the Isolus. “We will let him out together! I cannot be alone! It’s not fair!”

“Look, I’ve got your pod,” Ryan said desperately, holding it out to Chloe.

“The pod is dead!”

“No, no, it only needs heat.”

“It needs more than heat!”

“What, then?” Ryan was stumped, and time was running out.

“Not being funny or nothing, but that picture just moved,” Kel said nervously. Ryan snapped around. “And that one!” Kel pointed at the picture of the Doctor and the TARDIS. It had indeed changed; the Doctor was pointing at a crudely drawn torch. Ryan grabbed the picture to look at it closer.

“She didn’t draw that – he did… but it needs more than heat, Doctor!”

“ _I suppose it’s much more than a torch now_.” They turned to look at the coverage showing on Chloe’s laptop. “ _It’s a beacon. It’s a beacon of hope and fortitude and courage. And it’s a beacon of love_.”

“Love…” Ryan repeated. “I know how to charge up the pod.” He ran out the room, down the stairs, out the house and onto the street where a cheering crowd had gathered at the entrance. He slipped through the crowd, trying to get closer, but was stopped by a policeman.

“Sorry, you’ll have to watch from here,” the policeman told him.

“Yeah, I’ve got to get closer,” Ryan insisted.

“No way.”

“I can stop this from happening!” On second thoughts, he probably could have phrased that better, so he backed away a bit. The pod started bleeping and lit up as the torch came past. “You felt it, didn’t you?” Ryan pulled out of the crowd. “Feel the love,” he whispered to the pod and tossed it into the air; it spun towards the torch, causing the torchbearer to stumble when it made contact.

“Yes!” cheered Ryan, punching the air. He had done it! He briefly hugged Kel in his excitement.

“Nice one! You did it!” said Kel, slightly confused. “What was it you did?” Ryan didn’t care and hugged him again, Kel awkwardly patting him on the back.

Further back down the street, children reappeared and were embraced by their parents. Ryan watched on with a sad smile. “Doctor…”

“I don’t know who you are or what you did but thank you, dear.” It was the elderly lady from earlier. “And thank that other man for me too.”

Ryan ran his fingers through his fringe, sweeping it out of his eyes. “Where is he? He should be here,” he said to himself, desperately looking around. The long caramel coat and thick brown hair were nowhere to be seen. “All the drawings have come to life… that means all of them.” Shit. “Oh, no…”

He sprinted to Trish’s house. “Trish, get out!” he ordered as he slapped the glass panels on the door.

“I can’t, the door’s stuck,” Trish replied, her voice muffled.

“Is the Doctor in there?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Mummy,” moaned Chloe.

Ryan spotted a red light coming from the landing and the distant rumble from the drawing of Chloe’s dad. He pushed on the door harder.

“Chloe, listen to me. It isn’t real like the others. It’s just energy left over by the Isolus, but you can get rid of it!”

“Help us!” pleaded Trish.

“It’s because you’re so scared that he’s real, but you can get shot of him Chloe!” The light was growing brighter and the growling louder.

“Mummy…”

“You can do it!” yelled Ryan

“I can’t… I can’t… I can’t.” Chloe sounded more resigned each time she repeated it. “Mummy…”

Ryan watched Trish slide down to sit with her. “I’m with you, Chloe. You’re not alone. You’ll never be alone again.”

Ryan knew they didn’t have much time left – this was their last hope. “Sing!” he shouted. “Chloe, sing!” He kept hitting the door in despair.

Chloe and Trish started to sing and the light faded. Ryan sighed in relief and slid down onto the doorstep. Kel approached and saw Ryan’s sad expression. “Maybe he’s gone somewhere,” he suggested. Ryan gave a half nod.

“Who’s gonna hold his hand now?” he said wistfully.

Kel gave him a surprised look. “Wait, he’s your… boyfriend?” Seeing the mild shock on Ryan’s face, he backpedalled slightly. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course, but–“

“We’re just friends…” Ryan mumbled.

“Oh, of course, sorry, but still, you know, it’s fine…” Kel stuttered.

“Yeah…”

***

Ryan went back inside, with Kel following him. Trish and Chloe were hugging each other in the front room, watching the television. Everyone was back in the stadium.

“Eighty thousand people, so where’s the Doctor?” said Ryan, shaking his head. “I need him!” He took several deep breaths, trying to stay calm.

“ _Hang on, the torchbearer seems to be in a bit of trouble. We did see a flash of lightning earlier that seemed to strike him”_ commentated Huw Edwards. “ _Maybe he’s injured. He’s definitely in trouble.”_ The torchbearer collapsed, letting the torch drop to the floor. “ _Does this mean the Olympic Dream is dead?_ ” A familiar pair of legs came into the frame and the man bent down and grabbed the torch.

“Doctor…” Ryan grinned.

The occupants of the room watched in awe and delight as the Doctor ran the rest of the way in the stadium and up the long flight of stairs to where the cauldron was placed. He cheered and lit the cauldron and seemed to say something to it before he left. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief; it was finally over.

***

An hour later, after having had some food that Trish almost insisted on him eating, Ryan bade farewell to Chloe and Trish, taking a fairy cake - decorated with the ball-bearings that the Doctor was so fond of – with him. He spotted the Doctor walking with his back to him in the street. He jogged up behind him. “Cake?” Ryan offered, holding it out in his palm.

The Doctor slowly turned with a grin that mirrored Ryan’s and started to laugh. Ryan joined in with his infectious laughter.

He took the cake from Ryan. “Top banana!” he said, taking a bite. “I can’t stress this enough: ball-bearings you can eat, masterpiece!”

Ryan couldn’t wait any longer, practically jumping into the Doctor’s arms as he threw his arms around the Doctor’s neck. “I thought I’d lost you,” he said into the Doctor’s shoulder. They pulled back, but their arms lingered at the other’s sides.

“Nah, not on a night like this. This is a night for lost things being found. Come on.”

“What now?” Ryan asked, following him.

“I wanna go to the Games, it’s what we came for,” the Doctor replied, his voice going high-pitched as it often did when he was excited.

“Go on, give us a clue,” Ryan teased, nudging the Doctor with his shoulder. “Which events do we do well in?”

“I will tell you this. Papua New Guinea surprise everyone in the shotput.”

“Really? You’re joking, aren’t you?” Ryan asked as the Doctor turned around 360 degrees whilst walking. “Doctor…” Ryan chuckled, leaning his arm on the Doctor’s. “Are you serious or are you joking?”

“Wait and see.”

Above them, a series of fireworks exploded in the night sky. Ryan slipped his hand into the Doctor’s; he was now aware of how they might look to outsiders, but he had just gotten the Doctor back and he didn’t want to let go of him yet.

“You know what? They keep trying to split us up, but they never ever will.” The Doctor looked at him.

“Never say never ever.”

“Nah, we’ll always be okay, you and me.” Ryan felt the Doctor’s hand tighten slightly around his. “Don’t you reckon, Doctor?”

The Doctor was looking up at the sky, a sad look painting his features.

“Something in the air,” he said softly. “Something coming.”

“What?”

“A storm’s approaching…”

Feeling very unnerved, Ryan edged closer into the Doctor, resting his head on his shoulder. The pair walked back to the TARDIS in an uncertain silence, neither willing to let go of the other’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I wanted Ryan to realise at some point that he and the Doctor looked like a gay couple, which seemed quite difficult to do, as neither of them seem to show much awareness of how their relationship looks to other people. Watching that scene back in Fear Her, Kel looks like he's acknowledging them as a couple, after Rose's comment about holding the Doctor's hand, so I thought that would be a nice place to add something. Let me know your thoughts! 
> 
> Next time: Ryan does some thinking and makes a life-changing decision.


	6. Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of this story. It's pretty crazy to me how I originally thought this was going to be three short chapters, but it's grown into something I want to continue. Enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: some of the dialogue is by the writers of Doctor Who.

To put it simply: Ryan was exhausted. He’d spent a lot of the day running up and down the same street, and the emotional exhaustion from worrying about the Doctor just added to that. Really, it would have been a sensible idea to just say goodnight and collapse into bed, but thoughts were running through his head at a million miles per hour. Well, not quite a million miles per hour, as that was the speed that the Doctor’s brain operated at, but something close to that. Resigned, Ryan flopped onto the jump seat, and let his eyes lazily follow the Doctor as he practically skipped around the console, occasionally stopping to press a button or flick a switch. He never seemed to run out of energy.

The Doctor, finished with the controls, hopped onto the jump seat next to Ryan, letting their fingers tangle together before resting their joined hands on his thigh. “Everything okay?” the Doctor asked gently, rubbing his thumb against Ryan’s. Ryan let out a nondescript hum. Before he came out, the Doctor didn’t ask Ryan about his emotions - unless he was very obviously not okay – but since then, the Doctor had been more attentive, always willing to listen and always offering a hand to hold.

“I’m sorry about leaving you earlier. I know… how it feels, well, how it felt when you- “

Ryan cut him off. “It’s not your fault,” he murmured. “’S not like you knew you were gonna be snatched up…” he chuckled half-heartedly.

The Doctor let out a short exhale in amusement. “Yeah, suppose not…”

The console room fell into a rare silence.

“Doctor, y’know earlier… when everyone was arguing…” Beside him, Ryan felt the Doctor turn towards him.

“Yeah?”

“And they all thought I was a kid… so yeah, suppose that ain’t great, but at least they all thought I was a guy, so I’ll take that,” Ryan sighed, defeated, letting his cheek rest on the Doctor’s lean shoulder.

“You know, you don’t have to settle for just that.”

Ryan looked up, into the Doctor’s eyes which were gazing at him softly. “Huh?”

“You could start taking hormones, testosterone, specifically,” the Doctor replied, rubbing the back of his head with his spare hand.

“Shit, yeah… I’d forgotten about that,” Ryan yawned.

“This is a big decision you’d be making Ryan, if you want to do that,” the Doctor said in a more serious tone. “I’m not trying to stop you, and you know yourself better than anyone else, but I think it would be best if we did some research so you’re able to make an informed decision.” Ryan gave him a nod. “Not right now though, you look like you’re about to drop off,” he quipped. “We can start tomorrow, if you like?”

“Thought we were going to the Olympics tomorrow?” Ryan mumbled sleepily.

“We’re doing that too. And you should really go to bed,” the Doctor chuckled.

“Fine,” Ryan grumbled. He didn’t want to leave the Doctor yet, but he knew tomorrow was going to be busy and he needed the sleep. He gave the Doctor’s hand a squeeze before pulling himself off the jump seat. “’Night.”

“G’night, Ryan…”

He gave the Doctor a brief smile, which the Doctor returned, before turning towards the depths of the TARDIS.

Ryan dragged his feet down the corridors until he found his room. Too shattered to shower, he quickly changed into pyjamas before brushing his teeth and crawling under the covers. He was out like a light.

***

The next three weeks were packed with sporting action, with the Doctor and Ryan spending hours cheering for the Team GB athletes along with the overwhelming number of British spectators. And yes, a Papua New Guinean did win the men’s shotput, setting a huge new world record in the process.

The quieter moments were spent in the TARDIS library, researching testosterone and its effects, together. Once all the medals had been awarded and they had watched the closing ceremony, Ryan had made his decision.

“Doctor?”

The Doctor hummed and looked up from the book he was reading. He saw Ryan sat across from him in the library, picking at his nails, a sure tell that he was anxious.

“I’ve been thinking, and can I, do you reckon I could, start testosterone?” Ryan stumbled over the words.

The Doctor leant forwards in his armchair. “You absolutely 100% sure? Not to say I’m going to stop you or anything, we’ve done the research, I just want to make sure you’re going to be happy,” he said sincerely.

Ryan was touched by his words. “Yeah. I am,” he said determinedly. “Also, I’m kinda fed up of people thinking I’m your kid brother or something…” he quipped, laughing slightly.

The Doctor chuckled, “Yeah, blimey. That would be… weird.” He scrunched his face up in mild disgust. “No offence,” he quickly added.

“Can I start… now?” Ryan hesitantly asked.

“Of course, see we could go to the twenty-fifth century, they are very efficient with their healthcare, and of course it’s free, or how about back to 2007, so you could get everything done officially on your records, or– “

“Could you just do it?” Ryan interrupted.

“Yeah, suppose I could. Monitoring your levels wouldn’t be difficult– “

“And I wouldn’t have to worry about arriving twelve months late for an appointment…” Ryan teased.

“Oi! That was one time!” the Doctor protested.

“Naples 1860, Cardiff 1869. Sheffield 1979, Scotland 1879. London instead of New York… so what was that about one time?”

“Hey! At least I got the right year that last time!”

Ryan stood up, grinning. “Come on Doctor. Think it’s time for you to live up to your name.”

Ryan took his hand and led them to the infirmary.

***

“Where have we landed?” Ryan asked, once the TARDIS had stopped shaking and the time rotor had slowed to a halt.

“Castravalian IV, in the Andromeda Galaxy. Not too far from home, relatively speaking,” the Doctor explained as he threw on his coat. “Come on.”

Ryan followed him out of the TARDIS. He had promised something beautiful to recognise Ryan’s brand-new start, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Huge, jagged, stone monoliths towered over them. A nearby lake reflected the light from a burning orange sunset, and the shrieks of giant, flying manta ray-like creatures echoed across the rocky landscape.

“How long are you going to stay with me?” the Doctor asked, turning towards Ryan.

“Forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so very much for reading! The next story, called Changes (and will cover the events of Army of Ghosts, Doomsday and The Runaway Bride) will be Coming Soon.


End file.
